Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more "noise" than signals of a short-term surplus. As of 3:50 PM WIB, Brent was at $69.60/barrel (+0.29%) and WTI was at $64.83/barrel (+0.31%). The gains were moderate, but enough to keep prices near the psychological $70 level for Brent. From a geopolitical perspective, market focus is on the potential for escalation in the Middle East. Recent reports...
Major European stock markets advanced on Wednesday, with both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 gaining around 1%, building on the previous session's gain and mirroring a broadly positive global sentiment. Investors took comfort after President Trump stated he has no plans to dismiss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, easing fears over the politicization of US monetary policy. Hopes for a de-escalation in trade tensions between the US and China also lifted sentiment, following remarks from both President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. On the corporate front, shares of SAP jumped...
Hong Kong stocks surged 338 points or 1.6% to a near 10-week peak of 21,904 in Wednesday morning trade, rising for a third straight session. The rally followed a rebound on Wall Street after U.S. President Trump softened his tone on Fed Chair Powell, despite recently posting, "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!" Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects the U.S. and China to begin de-escalating trade tensions "in the very near future." On the domestic front, reports suggested Chinese "national team" and retail investors stepped in to support mainland equities....
The Nikkei 225 Index rallied 2.2% to around 34,980 while the broader Topix Index jumped 2.3% to 2,590 on Wednesday, with Japanese shares hitting a three-week high and tracking a strong rebound on Wall Street. Those moves came as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled a potential easing in the US-China trade dispute, calling the current tariff standoff "unsustainable." Later in the day, President Donald Trump reinforced market optimism by confirming he has no plans to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, helping to stabilize sentiment around central bank independence and policy...
Asia-Pacific markets climbed Wednesday, after all three key benchmarks on Wall Street advanced overnight on optimism that U.S.-China trade tensions could ease. This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that final tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. "won't be anywhere near as high as 145%." However, he added that the duties "won't be 0%." Trump also said he has "no intention" to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell before his term ends, alleviating investors' concerns over the central bank's independence. Hong Kong stocks led gains in the region, with the Hang Seng...
US stocks rose on Tuesday as hopes of an easing in the US-China trade war lifted investor sentiment after a sharp sell-off the previous day. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose 2.5%, while the Dow Jones jumped 1,016 points. Optimism was fueled by comments from Treasury Secretary Bessent at a JPMorgan-hosted summit, in which he said the current tariff standoff was "unsustainable" and hinted that negotiations with China were moving toward a resolution. However, gains eased later in the day as Bessent acknowledged that formal talks had not yet begun and warned that negotiations would likely be...
European stocks reversed early losses and closed higher on Tuesday, helped by a rebound in U.S. equities as markets continued to assess how lower trade risks with the U.S. could affect Europe's corporate giants. The eurozone STOXX 50 gained 0.4% to close at 4,956 and the pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.2% to close at 508. Carmakers were among the biggest gainers on the session, with Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen all up more than 2%. Banks, meanwhile, were solidly ahead, with BNP Paribas, Intesa Sanpaolo and ING all up around 1.5%, although UniCredit slumped almost 3% after the Italian...
US stocks were higher on Tuesday, trimming the selloff from the prior session as markets continued to assess risks to the autonomy of the Federal Reserve and the uncertain economic policy route by the Presidential administration. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, and the Dow were all up by slightly more than 1%. Equities booked sharp losses at the start of the week, aligning with declines in Treasury securities and the US dollar after President Trump and cabinet members signaled pressure on Fed Chair Powell to be replaced. This extended the pivot away from dollar assets amid ongoing trade...
The Hang Seng rose 167 points or 0.8% to close at 21,562 on Tuesday, swinging from early declines amid a jump in U.S. futures. The recovery followed a rout on Wall Street Monday, after President Trump intensified pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, labeling him a "major loser" and demanding immediate rate cuts. Investor sentiment also improved after reports suggested China's "national team" and retail investors stepped in to support mainland equities. All sectors ended in the green, led by property, financials, and consumer stocks. Wanda Hotel surged 9.7% after Tongcheng Travel agreed to...
Gold rises in the early Asian trade. There's a broad commodities uptrend, driven by macro uncertainty, a weaker dollar, and persistent demand for "hard" assets, says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst...
Oil extended declines after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook.
Brent...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakened against its US counterpart and reversed part of Friday's recovery from the lowest level since July 23 following Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks....